China News Service, Beijing, February 8 (Reporter Liu Xingchen) The Chinese women’s basketball team won again.

　　On the 8th, the China Division of the Paris Olympic Women’s Basketball Qualifying Tournament started. In the evening, the Chinese women's basketball team made its debut. The girls took the initiative from the beginning and finally defeated the New Zealand team 94:47, getting off to a good start.

  Results chart. Screenshot of FIBA ​​website

　　This time, Davidson and other main players did not travel with the New Zealand team, but many players in the team still play in the Australian league. In other words, the style of play of the New Zealand women's basketball team is very similar to that of the world powerhouse Australian team.

　　In this game, the Chinese women's basketball team hit 3 three-pointers at the beginning to establish an advantage. After that, the Chinese team strengthened its defensive intensity, and Li Meng made consecutive counterattacks to score 2+1. As the opponent's inside height dropped, the Chinese women's basketball team blossomed inside and outside, leading 53:22 at halftime.

　　After changing sides and fighting again, Li Yueru and Li Yuan's continuous attacks on the inside were effective, and the score gap once expanded to more than 40 points. In the end, the Chinese women's basketball team won 94:47. This is the first official game of the Chinese women's basketball team this year.

The strongest lineup of the Chinese women’s basketball team competes

　　A total of 16 teams participated in the Paris Olympic Women's Basketball Qualifying Tournament, which was divided into 4 divisions. The top 3 teams in each division qualified for the Olympic Games. The Chinese team, the New Zealand team, the French team, and the Puerto Rico team are in the Xi'an Division of China.

　　Before the start of this competition, the host France team and the 2022 Women's Basketball World Cup champion United States team have obtained seats for the Paris Olympics. For the Chinese women's basketball team, the team is facing a "3-for-2" situation with the New Zealand team and the Puerto Rico team.

　　After defeating the Japanese team to defend the Asian Games championship last year, the Chinese women's basketball coach Zheng Wei once said: "Entering the Olympics is a task we must complete."

　　This is also the last international women's basketball competition before the Paris Olympics. In order to actively prepare for the game, the Chinese women's basketball team completed its concentration on January 7, trained in Qingyuan, Guangdong for nearly a month, and invited the Guangzhou Youth Team for training. Li Yueru, who went to the Turkish League, was absent from this training camp. After she joined the team, the 12-person roster of the Chinese women's basketball team was determined.

  The Chinese team celebrates victory at the 2022 Women's Basketball World Cup. (Information map) Image source: ICphoto

　　Compared with the runner-up lineup of the 2022 Women's Basketball World Cup, the Chinese team retains the main framework, with younger Yang Shuyu and Luo Xinyi joining it, and the team plays with the strongest lineup. In the strength list announced before the game, the Chinese women's basketball team ranked second.

　　It is worth mentioning that veteran Wu Tongtong returned to the 12-man roster this time. In the World Cup final, Wu Tongtong injured his knee and left the field. Last summer, she was injured again in training, rupturing the anterior cruciate ligament in her right knee. After two surgeries and 438 days away from the game, Wu Tongtong returned to the league in December last year.

　　According to media reports, Wu Tongtong showed excellent training attitude and enthusiasm during the training camp and was finally selected.

Entering Paris, what are your hopes?

　　The two opponents they are about to face are no strangers to the Chinese women's basketball team.

　　In the world rankings, the French team and Puerto Rico are ranked 7th and 12th respectively.

　　In the quarter-finals of the 2022 Women's Basketball World Cup, the Chinese team defeated the French team 85:71, breaking the curse of missing the semi-finals in recent years.

　　As the host of the Paris Olympics, the French team has no performance pressure this time, but the head coach still assembled the strongest lineup to participate. "The best way to prepare for the Paris Olympics is to win every game."

  The picture shows the Chinese team celebrating after the Hangzhou Asian Games. (File photo) Photo by China News Service reporter Luo Yunfei

　　Fotu and Williams, who had performed well against the Chinese women's basketball team, were both selected into the French team's squad. In addition, Marlene Johannes, who has participated in two Olympic Games, also returned to the national team after a year.

　　In the 2022 World Cup group stage, the Chinese women's basketball team defeated Puerto Rico 95:60. In this game, the latter is led by scorer Gilantes.

　　Although the Chinese women's basketball team is superior in strength, it needs to face the physical test brought by back-to-back battles.

　　After a comprehensive analysis of the remaining two opponents, it is only a matter of time before the Chinese women's basketball team, which has already won one victory, will enter the Paris Olympics.

  Image source: Chinese Basketball Team

　　On the last day of 2023, Zheng Wei wrote this sentence on social media - "In 2023, I am grateful to meet you; in 2024, the future is promising."

　　In the past two years, the Chinese women's basketball team has achieved outstanding results in various competitions such as the World Cup, Asian Cup, and Asian Games, becoming the best-performing team in Chinese sports in the "three major sports". But in Zheng Wei's eyes, the Chinese women's basketball team is not currently the best version of itself. Maintaining stable performance in the world series is the "stepping stone" to becoming a strong team in the world. The team's performance trend has been rising, but there are still many shortcomings.

　　"Step off the podium and everything starts again." This is a sentence often mentioned in the Chinese women's basketball team in the past two years. The whole team is ready to meet the challenge.

　　According to the schedule, the Chinese women's basketball team will face the strong French team at 16:30 on February 10. (over)